Chapter Text
“We’re here, Cup-” Carmilla turned off the engine and turned her head towards Laura, only to meet her sleeping face, “cake…”
The officer pursed her lips and let her head fall on the steering wheel. This whole ride made her realize that she had actual feelings. For Laura. She wasn’t sure what it was but there’s no point denying that there was something there. She didn’t know why either. All she knew was that Laura has the sweetest looking chocolate brown eyes that shine when she rants about her ideas and that Carmilla could just look into them all day. And that smile? It could easily lift everything clouding her heart and she wanted to do anything to protect it. Carmilla shook her head. No. Laura is just her… friend and that was it. None of that wanting for more is allowed. One broken relationship was enough to scar her for years and now that she’s better, there’s no need to put herself in a dangerous position again.
She turned towards Laura again. Even her sleeping face makes Carmilla feel completely at ease. Just in case Laura really wanted to try the milkshakes, Carmilla decided to wait for a while more. Careful not to wake her up, she reclined both their seats and took a break too. She turned her body to her side and propped herself up to get a better view of Laura. Soon, the night got even colder as the clock stroke midnight. Carmilla noticed Laura’s arms covered in goose bumps so she draped her usual leather jacket over Laura’s body. After another 15 minutes, the officer decided that the smaller girl would rather be sleeping than drinking milkshakes.
“Laura. Hey, Laura.” The officer lightly shook the other girl.
As much as she would rather let Laura rest on the ride back to her house, she didn’t know where the other lady lived.
“Mmmmnn… More whipped cream…” Laura sleepily murmured.
The action caused a smile to grow on her face. She only saw Laura’s annoyed, angry and flustered sides so far so this was something new and adorable. She shook her head. Looks like she isn’t going to wake up any time soon. Carmilla weighed her options. She could always ask one of her boys back at the force to look up Laura’s address but she didn’t want to invade anyone’s privacy for no reason. Call the Giant Ginger and drop off Laura at her place? Maybe not such a good idea. She thought a little longer and suddenly remembered a place her father used to secretly bring her to when mother banned her from leaving the house. It was beautiful and ever since her father’s death, she avoided the place until she forgot about it altogether. She took one last look at Laura before buckling them up. She imagined Laura there and knew that it’ll be the right place to bring her to.
Carmilla took her time with her drive there to make it as smooth as possible for the little cupcake in her car. When they arrived, Carmilla parked at her father’s usual spot. The place was exactly like how she remembered it to be. She exchanged her leather jacket covering Laura with a blanket from the backseat. She wanted to walk around outside without getting frozen in the process. Once she had it on, she took a step out of the car and let the heels of her leather boots dig into the sand. The familiar sensation came back to her in waves. She placed both feet on the ground before climbing out from her seat.
It was now 2am and even though the journey wasn’t that far away, Carmilla really took her time with the drive there. She didn’t want to venture too far away from the car with Laura inside it instead of sitting on the bench facing the sea, she climbed onto the front of the car and laid back on the windscreen. Before she could fully relax, her phone started vibrating again. She took it out to check all the notifications that was going off on her phone for the past few hours. Of course, people were wondering where they went. She sent a quick text to Lafontaine.
Carmilla (2:05AM): Hey Ginger #1, I’m technically already off duty so ask the numbskulls to stop texting me. I’m alive. Also, Laura Hollis is with me and I’ll bring her in for questioning tomorrow. By the way, thanks in advance for completing my report. ;)
Laf (2:08AM): Hey Carmilla! What do you mean Ginger #1! I’m the only Ginger you know. Don’t tell me you’ve been cheating on me! :P And yeah, greeeat to know that you’re alive. I’m sure the boys will be happy to hear that. By the way, Laura Hollis is with you? You better explain yourself the first thing tomorrow! Also, as much as I love research and writing reports I’m not going to do yours for you. Go beg Kirsch or something.
Carmilla (2:10AM): Yeah, yeah. Now I’m going to turn off my phone and you know how I hate getting a chain of messages first thing when I wake up so tell them to shut it or else. About the report, can’t you just help a friend out? I know how good of a person you are Laf. Just this once?
With that last text, Carmilla turned off her phone and tucked it in her back pocket. Smiled to herself. Lafontaine is a good friend of hers at the force and they both entered at around the same time. Although they may seem a little annoyed, Carmilla knows that they were someone she can truly trust to cover her back.
Once the worry of her work is at the back of her mind, Carmilla crossed her legs and looked up to the sky. The beach was quiet and seeing as it is a weeknight, the town was also almost just as silent. This allowed the sky to be free from light pollution and Carmilla could see all the constellations clearly. She raised her hand and aligned it with the stars. She can’t explain this but she always felt at ease when she was here. No matter how bad she had it at home, looking at the stars served a reminder that (insert that star quote).
“My mother loved the stars too.” A voice forced her out of her thoughts.
“Who-?” Carmilla sourced for the voice.
“Down here!” Laura laughed and waved her hand through the car door’s window.
“Oh. Didn’t know you were already awake, cupcake.” The officer looked back down at Laura through the windscreen.
“You should have woken me up. What happened to the best milkshake in town?” Laura pretended to pout but still flashed Carmilla a smile at the end.
“I didn’t want to wake you up. But I’m sure you really wanted to try that milkshake. Your sub consciousness was telling me so.” Carmilla smirked and raised an eyebrow.
“My sub consciousness?” The girl in the car repeated questioningly.
“You were dreaming about milkshakes, creampuff. Going on about more whipped cream of some sort.” The officer waved her hand in the general direction of the air above Laura’s head. She hopped off her car’s hood and walked to Laura’s door.
“Was not!” Laura tucked her chin in with a blush. Gosh why did she had to have to sleep talk about milkshakes?
“Well, don’t have to be shy about it. I remember dreaming about cakes when I was ten too.” Carmilla continued teasing Laura with a smug look.
But before Laura could retort, Carmilla spoke again. “But if you really want to try it that badly, I can bring you there again some other time. Let’s get you home for now. I didn’t know where you live so I didn’t really have many options.” The officer gestured at their general surroundings, explaining herself to Laura.
“What about the place where you live? Or you could just find out where I live, you’re a law enforcement officer.”
“Being in the force doesn’t give me the rights to stick my nose in your business without your permission. It also doesn’t give me the rights to sneak a beautiful lady home either.” Carmilla winked before heading towards the driver’s seat.
A blush rose up to Laura’s cheeks. “How gentlewoman-ly.” She tried to gloss over the fact that the Carmilla just called her beautiful by clearing her throat.
“What? Chivalry isn’t dead.” The officer raised an eyebrow at the smaller girl. “Okay now come on, so where do I drive to?” Carmilla turned to Laura after buckling her seatbelt.
Laura took the chance to observe her surroundings while Carmilla walked back to her seat. Where were they anyway? It was actually really dark outside and instead of chit chatting about milkshakes with Carmilla, she should have been worried about her own safety. Police officer or not.
Carmilla noticed Laura staring out of the window and as if reading her mind, she continued talking when faced with Laura’s silence. “We are at Panthra Bay right now.”
Laura looked around and squinted her eyes. She’s been to Panthra Bay once for a student orientation party and even in her drunken state she was sure there were more lights than this place.
Carmilla noticed Laura’s discomfort and shrugged. Sure, it was a secret place between she and her dad but there’s no harm sharing it with Laura. “This place is part of Panthra Bay but it’s not at the usual common area people go to. My father and I discovered this place when I was three and it’s been my favourite place since. Although this is my first time driving a car here. Had to squeeze through that bunch of vegetation with this car.” She pointed at the bush behind them.
Laura was now looking at Carmilla and saw how her features softened, even if it was just a little bit. “Does your father like looking at the stars too?”
Carmilla pursed her lips. That’s the reason why she had been avoiding this place. She didn’t want to get reminded about the fact that her father was gone. Forgetting his death wasn’t really a stretch but she still avoided whatever was left that reminded her of him. So right now when Laura asks, Carmilla didn’t really know what to say except a soft “yeah” that escaped her lips with a sigh.
Laura looked at the officer. The sigh made the lady seem so distant and it felt like she might break something within the officer if she asked any further. So she just kept her mouth shut. Which was hard, considering that her job literally requires her to question things.
The silence lingered between them and Laura was starting to feel uncomfortable. Silence and Laura Hollis doesn’t mix well together after all. She fidgeted and tugged at the hem of her sleeve, unsure of what to say when Carmilla cleared her throat. “Care to share what’s so interesting about that sleeve of yours that’s distracting you from me?”
A blush creeped up Laura’s face at the same time as a smirk is creeping up Carmilla’s. It was dark, but Carmilla could still see a hint of blush across Laura’s face. God, she sure loved seeing how the smaller woman flustered.
Carmilla was still smirking away and living in the moment when she noticed a yawn escaping Laura’s mouth.
“Bedtime already, cupcake?”
“Wha- no. Not bedtime. It is hardly bedtime. Why would you say that? I am a perfectly adult adult who can stay up at night. No sleepiness.”
“Sure, creampuff.” Carmilla raised an eyebrow at Laura. Apparently bedtimes made Laura Hollis get flustered too.
The time on Carmilla’s phone told her that it was almost three and she noted that she still had about 2 more hours to kill before the stars disappear. She was fine with just sitting and staring at the sky in silence but if the constant fidgeting was a sign, she was aware of Laura’s discomfort. So she took it upon herself to explain the consolations to the little lady. And to her surprise, the little lady was interested in the stars too.
Okay, so apparently listening to a topic that sounds genuinely interesting can’t stop one from passing out due to exhaustion, Laura noted. She had passed out halfway during Carmilla’s narration about Geb and Nut, the Egyptian couple gods who were separated into the Sky and Earth. She wasn’t sure how Carmilla ended up on that story. Her guess was probably because she couldn’t stop asking questions, in an attempt to hear more of Carmilla’s story telling voice which was totally different from the voices of Carmilla she had heard so far. A warmth creeped into Laura when she recalled Carmilla’s voice and face before she slept. The officer looked like she’s always serious and full of smug but last night she seemed so at peace.
Wait. Last night? Was it morning already? Did she fall asleep in Carmilla’s presence for more than an hour? Laura shifted and slowly opened an eye. From what she could tell, she was lying down across the hood of the car, with a pillow under her head and a familiar jacket with the word “POLICE” drabbed over her body. The car was still facing the sea and at that moment, she saw the most beautiful sight ever.
As she propped herself up on her elbow, she saw the sun rising from behind the ocean, lighting up the sky. The sea glistened under the light and the sky had a dark purple shade. The shades of the sky looks exactly the same as when the sun goes down. But somehow, Laura could just tell that the colours in the sky meant that it was a sunrise. And then, in the midst of rising, she noticed a person standing not too far away from the car, stretching. She stared at how the person’s hair seemed to flow with the sea breeze and how she could feel from all the way back at the car that that person is having the most refreshing moment of the day just staring at the sun.
Then the person turned and she saw the next most beautiful thing of the day – Officer Carmilla Karnstein. The sunlight reflected off her fair skin and made it seem like she was glowing. It was unfair, since the first day Laura already knew that the officer is good looking. But this- this is just unfair.
Keep calm
Laura shouted in her head. Which was a rather hard task to do especially when the ultra-attractive person was smirking and sashaying her way towards super gay Hollis.
“Not bedtime yet, huh?” was all Carmilla said when she was back.
Laura was still gaping at the whole scene that just happened because Carmilla had to snap her fingers to catch her attention once more.
Once out of her daze, Laura looked at Carmilla and managed to muster a “The sunset is really pretty.”
Carmilla took off her sunglasses and stared questioningly at Laura.
“SUNRISE! I mean to say sunrise. The sunrise is really pretty. Like really. I’m so glad the sun rises. Ohmygod are you cold? And I’m so sorry I slept halfway I didn’t mean too. Gosh I know that I was the one who didn’t want to go back but this is so rude of me and-” She pursed her lips and glanced up back at Carmilla’s face. She was smirking even harder than before with an eyebrow up but something in Carmilla’s eyes seemed less mocking. She felt her mouth part a little in awe. “ –and I’m sorry. Here, your jacket.”
The more Laura talked, the more she grimaced on the inside.
Smooth, Laura. Smooth.
“Well, it isn’t that cold. Detective constitution trumps low temperatures.” Carmilla shrugged.
A look on Laura’s face told Carmilla that she wanted to know more so she decided to continue.
“And it’s okay, cupcake. You had quite the night. It’s understandable that you’ll get drained after that. Not everyone is that brave.” Carmilla let a small genuine smile crack her face.
Laura seemed to accept that answer and returned the smile with a wider one.
“But maybe you can do something about that drool spot on my pillow.” Carmilla leaned towards Laura and reached for the pillow behind her.
A wave of horror and embarrassment hit her as she turned to look at the pillow. Oh god- Carmilla was right. A little part of her also jumped in excitement at Carmilla’s proximity but she was so embarrassed that it didn’t seem to matter. She’ll deal with that later. She leaned forward to grab the pillow from Carmilla’s arm but she was too slow.
Her hand landed on the hood of the car instead and she could see Carmilla walking backwards with the pillow in her hand.
“Oh no, you won’t be able to get out of this one.” Carmilla taunted Laura.
That was it. Laura jumped down from the car and leaped towards Carmilla, aiming for the pillow in her arm. However, Carmilla dodged Laura expertly and gave Laura the smuggest face she has ever seen.
“Oh no, this is not happening.” Laura hated losing more than anything. And right now she also needed to get that pillow with an embarrassing stain out of the officer’s arms. A switch flipped within her and before she knew it, she was chasing after an officer on the beach. The very officer who saved her and made sure she was warm and also somehow looked incredibly attractive at every single moment.
Somehow, their chase led them back to the car and Laura took the chance to corner Carmilla against the car, leaving her nowhere to run. However, her plan still failed because Carmilla raised her arm holding the pillow, causing Laura to grab on air once more. The only difference was that Laura was sure she could have gotten the pillow, she placed all her strength in that one lunge which made her lose her balance the moment she had nothing to hold onto. In an attempt to not fall, she immediately slammed her hands on the Car’s window, trapping Carmilla’s head between her arms. The officer was also quick to catch Laura so she had an arm wrapped around her waist.
Only now did Laura’s brain decide to take note of their close proximity and she didn’t care. She was heavily breathing from their run and her shoes was filled with sand and she was supposed to grab that pillow but she didn’t care. She could see beads of sweat forming on Carmilla’s smooth skin and when they flowed down her face, Laura traced it with her eyes until it disappeared into her tank top. Laura gulped and instantly backed away.
Carmilla frowned at the sudden space between them but got back to being smug soon enough. She has no time for feelings now (even when her heart was telling her otherwise.).
“See something you like, cutie?” She mustered.
Laura opened and closed her mouth like a fish out of water and stopped. Two can play this game. A playful grin spread across her face before she swiftly grabbed the pillow from the brunette’s hand.
“See something you like, cutie?” Laura mocked Carmilla’s tone and waved the pillow in between their faces.
The officer froze against the car and looked at her hand and then back at Laura. Realisation dawned on her and she broke into a similar grin but smaller than the one plastered on the blonde’s face.
“Oh no. No way you’re challenging the greatest detective in Silas Police Department!”
Carmilla was about to dart for the pillow when the walkie talkie in her car came to life, requesting for her immediately.
Her face turned serious in less than a second and she went into the car.
“Come in cupcake. The station needs me and my shift just started. I can’t send you home but I’ll drop you off with this car at the station. I’ll get one of my men to send you back.”
The ride back to the station was quick and Laura can’t help but wonder what was happening in Silas once again. Once at the station, Carmilla left the car quickly and ordered Laura to stay in it. When she was back, another police officer sat in the driver’s seat. Carmilla walked towards the side that Laura’s seated at and knocked on the window.
Laura winded down the window and she gave the officer a look. If she was honest, Laura hoped that this won’t be the time that they part ways again. She’s had so much fun and she’s never felt so refreshed since 4 years ago.
“Well, I’m sorry I didn’t manage to send you back in the end.” Carmilla sheepishly said. She glanced down to the pillow in Laura’s arm, “keep that for me for a while will you? I don’t think it’s good to have a pillow sitting in a police car.”
Carmilla pursed her lips and had it slanted down to one side, as if thinking of what to say. But before she could mutter a word, Laura took her place.
“Will I see you again?” She managed to whisper softly.
Carmilla’s eyes darted to the other officer next to you for a second and looked back at you. If you hadn’t known better, you’d think that she was embarrassed that someone else was there as she lowered and softened her voice to reply you.
“I still have an interrogation with you Miss Hollis. Don’t think that you can just run away.”
With a wink for good measure, Carmilla turned around and brisk walked back into the station. Laura’s lips slightly parted with a gasp and she stayed facing at the window even with Carmilla gone. The car’s engine brought her back and Laura gulped. Hard. She didn’t know how could someone sound so sincere and annoyingly flirtatious at the same time.
The car moved out of the lot and Laura’s grip tightened on the yellow pillow, smile slowly spreading across her face followed by a slight heat rising up to her cheeks.